The name: Imperial

Hello!

This is a great discussion of the name Imperial and its potential for Chrysler and everyone has some great ideas. Someone mentioned that Chrysler never marketed the Imperial properly and it became "just another Chrysler" and I had a thought. What if Chrysler were to market the Imperial as a separate marque the way Nissan has with Infiniti and Toyota has with Lexus? Using a separate dealer network and support system, it may prove to be very profitable if done with quality products and quality service. Ok, time for me to wake up.

Randy

Dreaming of a '73

----- Original Message -----

From: John Meyer

To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 6:25 PM

Subject: IML: The name: Imperial

Hi Everyone,

I think we all agree that Chrysler failed to market the Imperial
effectively, and also failed to separate Imperial as a separate marque
from the Chrysler name. Imperial started out and ended up as "Chrysler
Imperial" and that's how nearly everybody refer to our cars today,
never mind that most of them don't carry the word "Chysler" anywhere.
The design and engineering of the cars wasn't the problem. I think also
that (nearly) all of us agree Elwood Engel wasn't at fault.

But what about the name Imperial itself?

We know that Chrysler's use of the name Imperial was meant to connote
the best of the best, the top, the pinnacle, etc. But many many other
companies and entrepreneurs had exactly the same idea. Think of
Imperial Margarine, etc. I look in the yellow pages today and I see
Imperial Gem & Jewelry and Imperial Transportation services. How many
plumbers, roofers, dry cleaners, barber shops, etc. do you want to bet
used the name Imperial all through the 50s, 60s & 70s? I'd bet there
were thousands. The name was really watered down to the point of being
meaningless and having no real identity.

GM certainly never had that problem with Cadillac. Cadillac meant
Cadillac and that meant prestige. The name Imperial just didn't have
the power to lend much prestige to Chrysler's top of the line. The
beautiful (and now highly sought after) Chrysler Imperials of the 30s
helped doom Chrysler's efforts to establish Imperial as a separate
marque: it would always be "Chrysler Imperial." The name "300" was much
more successful. People never forgot that 300 meant a snazzy Chrysler
car. The association stayed strong enough for Chrysler to revive that
name.

Imperial has a lot of meanings, and in the 30s it was just fine to be
imperialistic. Imperial Navy, British Empire, and so on. Studebaker
even sold a car named the Dictator. Nowadays using Imperial would be a
marketing disaster. These days more people would connect "Imperial" to
Star Wars and Darth Vader than to any kind of car.

All the same, I always just say "It's an Imperial" when someone asks
what kind of car I'm driving.

Best,
John Meyer
1965 Crown
Tucson

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